Welcome to a new week of #fiftywords! This post shares last week's highlights and provides a new prompt for this week's 50-word adventures.

I usually get these posts out on Sundays to give everyone a full week to mull over the prompt and get 'er done. My apologies for being a day late. Yesterday was the last day of "Write Club," a 16-week writing boot camp I've been involved in, and I had to complete my final story revision. In case you didn't know this about me, I am a newly dedicated fiction writer and am hard at work on my craft. I'll be posting a retrospective on my Write Club experience in the coming days.

The 50-word challenge is light and fun, yet skill-building at the same time, and it has been a wonderful side-kick to the more serious and lengthy pieces I've been working on. I write a 50-word piece for the prompt each week, and enjoy reading every entry that comes in from the Fifty Worders. I've been amazed to see some of the mini-masterpieces that come out of this project. You guys are the bees knees!

About the 50-word challenge

This weekly challenge starts with a one-word prompt. Fifty-word writers use the prompt to create a micro-fiction story in just 50 words.

We are continuing the #fiftywords story challenge launched by @miniature-tiger who has been developing a seafaring strategy game called Archipelago for the Utopian.io open source community. Check out the linked post for the latest update.

(Image credit: Original image by pixel2013, Pixabay)

Last week's 50-word stories

Last week's prompt -- space -- inspired fiftyworders like no prompt before. As you would expect, we had stories about outer space, including some fabulous science, history and sci-fi pieces, as well as stories about people needing space from other people, stories of mentally spaced out people, a story about war breaking out over parking spaces and more. As usual, picking a story or two to highlight proved nearly impossible because so many of them are so good!

Here is the complete list of last week's mini-masterpieces. If you haven't done so, I hope you read them all. If you're pressed for time, I've shared a few of the highlights below.

• Space, by @iamthegray
• The Fifth Element, by @puppetmaster1111
• The Space Between Me, by @galactichunter
• Space: Personal Log 947, by @enjar
• Safety Tethers, by @dirge
• Insidious designs, by @kimberlylane
• What you call, by @anixio
• Escape, by @marie-jay
• Life in the Big City, by @preparedwombat
• Be careful what you wish for, by @deirdyweirdy
• As One, by @kaelci
• No One Can Hear You, by @negativer
• BraceFaced, by @thatlovechild
• fifty words challenge, by @wales
• Fifty words story with the word space, by @wales
• Spaced out, by @clacrax
• Body, Head Space, by @intheory
• To the Future, by @navaneeth
• Just another picture, by @isa93
• Cruel and beautiful, by @spalatino
• SPACE (R)ACE, by @luiskrupaz
• Endless journey to Nowhere, by @jadams2k18
• Galaxy News!, by @ahmadmanga
• Big Fat Space, by @ahmadmanga
• Ages Apart, by @ahmadmanga
• How am I still hungry???, by @ablaze
• Space Fear, by @cheekah
• Escape, by @qira
• Fatal Error, by @lazarus-wist
• The New Earth, by @botefarm
• The space between, by @jayna

Shining star of the week

The story I fell in love with this last week makes me laugh out loud every time I read it.

Be careful what you wish for, by @deirdyweirdy, tells the story of a woman demanding space from the crowd as she attempts to catch a flying magic lamp, and it has a hilarious twist. The unfortunate timing -- that she makes that wish just as she catches the lamp, and the genie emerges -- means her wish is granted and she is sent hurtling into nothingness.

This piece artfully demonstrates the amazing power of language and story, and I am amazed anew by how much can be told in a mere 50 words. Great job, @deirdyweirdy. And as always, reading the hilarious comment stream that ensues from your stories is an added bonus!

More must-read entries

Guys, there are so many great little stories! I love them all. But here are just a few more spectacular highlights from the week:

• Just another picture, by @isa93, gave us a lovely tribute to the 28th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope, with an amazing image.
• What you call, by @anixio, was a really fun riddle that had us all guessing at the speaking voice of the story.
• No One Can Hear You, by @negativer, is a deliciously sinister horror piece that made everyone laugh.
• Life in the Big City, by @preparedwombat, tells the devastating yet amusing extreme resolution of a fight over a parking space.
• The Fifth Element, by @puppetmaster1111, beautifully describes "quintessence," which complements earth, air, fire, and water as the fifth element -- "spirit," or "space."
• Space: Personal log 947, by @enjar, attempted to tell an entire online game plot in 50 words.
• Fifty words, by @wales, is the most erudite 50-word story I've ever seen, describing the "entelechial proposition." I would provide a better description if I could.

This week's 50-word story prompt

The prompt for this week is “wing.” Put on your thinking caps, #fiftywords friends!

Guidelines

Please review carefully. Images must not be pulled from any Internet site.

1. Write a story in 50 words. (It's especially cool if you can hit 50 words exactly!)
2. Use the #fiftywords tag, and post the link in the comments of this post.
3. Be sure to read and upvote the work of the other participants. It's all about community!
4. Use only artwork that you have the right to use, and attribute it properly. See the “Proper use of images” topic below.

Proper use of images

Proper use of images means one of the following:

1. It is your image.
2. The image is public domain, or under creative commons licensing rules.
3. If it is not one of the above, you have actual permission.

Be sure to mention that the image is yours, or attribute its source. And if it's not public domain or creative license, be sure to state that you have permission.

I have two resources for you, from my friends at @thewritersblock:

• Image licensing, by @rhondak
• Creative Commons Resource Library, by @therosepatch

And speaking of #thewritersblock, if you would like editing help for your stories before posting them, follow the tag to find them on Discord.

Deadline for this week: Saturday, May 5th (Cinco de Mayo!)

The 50-word story clan

I'm mentioning you here if have participated in the #fiftywords short story challenge in the past. Please let me know if you would like your tag removed in this or future posts. (Note that I am starting to reduce the list. Those who have not participated for a long time or are not active on Steemit will eventually drop from the mentions.)

@ablaze, @adigitalife, @agmoore, @ahmadmanga, @aksounder, @alheath, @andyartland, @anixio, @anjkara, @awhsarada
@beginningtoend, @bentheredonethat, @bhop42moro, @bitsendpieces, @botefarm @brandonsadventur, @bryarose23
@caleblailmusik, @carn, @cheekah, @cizzo, @clacrax, @creatr
@damianjayclay, @deirdyweirdy, @diebitch, @dirge, @divineinyang, @douglasbalmain
@eaglespirit, @elementm, @emwalker, @enjar, @eroticabian, @evgsk
@feebie, @felt.buzz, @fitinfun, @foxfiction
@galactichunter, @godwine
@hope-k
@iamthegray, @ilt-yodith, @intheory, @isa93, @isufbakaj
@jadams2k18, @janine-ariane, @jakeybrown, @jayna, @josecarrasquero
@kaelci, @kainos-success, @kamalkennedy, @kimberlylane, @kingernie, @ktfabler
@ldacey-laforge, @lonestarpoet, @loraine, @lucylin, @luiskrupaz
@Mammasitta, @marie-jay, @mark-dahl, @metzli, @mikesthoughts, @mineopoly, @miniature-tiger, @momzillanc, @mydivathings
@naquoya, @naso, @navaneeth, @negativer, @niallon11
@onewithearth
@paintingangels, @photovitamin, @pixiehunter, @poeticnest, @preparedwombat, @prydefoltz, @puppetmaster1111, @purpledaisy57, @pyrowngs
@rodgriocabrera
@saoirseronan, @sciencevienna, @sharoonyasir, @skoolielove, @spalatino, @stayoutofherz, @steemitdiversify, @sukhasanasister, @superjongky
@tanglebranch, @thatlovechild, @theblackcrow, @therosepatch, @tiatu, @tibra, @tin-tin, @tony-duke, @tuwore, @tygertyger
@udayakumarage, @upen-srv
@vaitelavicius, @vivek-g
@wales, @whitewizard, @wilfredn, @wordsalmighty, @wylde
@yimiipsa, @yomibolo
@zen-art

Thanks so much for reading. As always, your upvote, comment and resteem support is greatly appreciated!